When the son of Tennessee GOP Rep. John Rose, Guy, went viral on social media on Monday, many commented on how adorable his ‘grandson’ was.
Little did they know that the silly six-year-old making faces behind the congressman’s speech was 59-year-old Rose’s son by his wife, who is 25 years his junior.
Rose and wife Chelsea apparently met when she was in high school and he was 42, and they crossed paths at an agricultural convention. She was an adult when they married four years later.
In 2007, 17-year-old Chelsea Doss traveled from Murfreesboro to Gaitlinburg, Tennessee for the state’s 79th annual Future Farmers of America (FFA) convention.
Chelsea’s Eagleville High School FFA chapter won the State Superior award and Chelsea won the State Job Interview Contest. She was named state president of the Tennessee FFA Association in 2007-2008.
Among those attending the convention was Rose, then vice chairman of the Tennessee FFA board of directors.
Republican Rep. John Rose and his wife Chelsea apparently met when she was in high school and he was 42, and they crossed paths at an agricultural convention
Shortly after the FFA convention, Chelsea won the Doss and received the Jerry and Betty Williams Rose Scholarship, named after Rose’s parents.
Less than four years later, the couple married, according to an engagement announcement from the now defunct local Eagleville Times.
Chelsea was 21 and a senior at Tennessee Technical University. Rose was a 45-year-old software executive, heavily involved in FFA and chairman of the board of governors of Chelsea’s college.
In a 2010 interview with the Murfreesboro Post, Chelsea credited Rose with getting her the scholarship.
“John has made possible everything I have done in FFA beyond high school. Thanks to the scholarship he offers, I didn’t have to have a job while I was in college,” Chelsea said, indicating that the scholarship was secured before she arrived on campus as a freshman. “I’ve been able to train, improve, focus on FFA and focus on school. That grant made all the difference,” she continued. ‘(John) also coached me during my preparation and that helped me enormously.’
Rose and his ginger six-year-old made the rounds on TV networks on Tuesday, with appearances on CNN and Fox News.
On Tuesday morning on Fox and Friends, Guy explained that he was “making a symbol for my brother to make him laugh,” and spelled SAM.
Tennesee Rep. John Rose took the floor to condemn the “political” persecution of Donald Trump that led to his conviction, but it was his young son who stole the show Monday.
Thanksgiving 2020: Rose announces that he and his wife are expecting a second child in April 2021
Rose and his wife Chelsea have another young son, Sam, born in 2020. The couple met when Chelsea was in high school and Rose was 42. They married in 2011 when she was in her senior year of college.
When asked if he realized he was a “very big star” after the clip, Guy replied: “Not so much.” He said his father “does boring things” for a living, and when Rose said his job is “actually very interesting,” Guy whispered over him, “He’s not telling the truth.”
Rose spoke to condemn the ‘political’ persecution of the woman Donald Trump That led to his conviction, but it was his young son who stole the show on Monday.
Behind Rose, 59, sat his son, Guy, 6. As Rose spoke into the microphone, his son smiled at the camera before crossing his eyes, sticking out his tongue and making a series of funny faces and hand gestures.
“This is what I get for telling my son Guy to smile for the camera for his little brother,” Rose wrote on X after the C-SPAN clip went viral.
Social media users were quick to point out their unconventional wedding.
Behind Rose, 59, sat his son, Guy, 7. As Rose spoke into the microphone, his son smiled at the camera, before crossing his eyes, sticking out his tongue and making a series of funny faces and hand gestures.
John Rose’s son Guy makes funny faces at the camera after dad tells him to smile for his little brother
“Hey, is his mom the one you took care of when she was 17 and you were 42?!? Family values Christian, amirite?’ one X user replied.
“Is his mother there or is she busy studying for finals?” wrote another.
“Friendly reminder that John Rose was in his 40s when he groomed a teenager to become his wife,” read another reply.
Rose came to Congress in 2018 after a career in business and a stint as Tennessee’s agriculture commissioner.